Church just felt the right place to be

“Faith isn’t a black and white thing. I think church just felt the right place to be. You can get married in many beautiful places all over the world these days, but you only get the blessing in a church. We felt it was important that we had that for our marriage,” she said.

The couple were contacted by Viv Price, a Mothers’ Union member who helped support couples getting married at St Mary’s by offering them advice, prayer and practical help in organising the wedding.

“Viv was great actually,” said Karen. “It was valuable to have someone help us with some of the practical things like choosing the right hymns. She came to our wedding and kept in touch afterwards.”

The support of the church was especially valued when Karen’s mother sadly died shortly before the wedding. Knowing that her mother would want the wedding to go ahead, the date was not cancelled.

“Knowing that there were people supporting us in both prayer and thought provided support and comfort in what was both a happy and sad time,” said Karen.